Tripura, J&K register outright wins

Guwahati: A collective bowling effort on Tuesday delivered a beleaguered Jammu & Kashmir their first win of the season, and it was a significant one too. The margin of victory was crushing (235 runs) and came against Group C leaders Assam at home in Guwahati, and considering the backdrop of selection controversies, player strikes and two innings defeats this season, it was a sensational result for J&K.

Six of eight bowlers who turned their arms over picked up wickets, with Ram Dayal the best with 3 for 50. Having top-scored in both innings with 67 and 120*, and taken a career-best 7 for 41 in Assam's second innings, Parvez Rassol picked up the wickets of J Syed Mohammad and Abu Nechim to cap an excellent all-round performance. Waseem Raja took 2 for 40.

For Assam, the last man out was Tarjinder Singh for 105, roughly 43 per cent of the team’s total. The next highest was opener and captain Dheeraj Jadhav, who made 51 before becoming Raja’s first wicket in the morning session.

In Nadaun, Tripura sprang a surprise by deflating Himachal Pradesh (HP) by 109 runs. Resuming from their overnight score of 116 for 5, Tripura were all out for 177 and set HP a target of 359 runs. Timir Chanda nipped out Aakash Chopra, HP captain, in the first over to set the tone. After that wickets continued to tumble at regular intervals. Barring Paras Dogra (105*), who cracked his fourth century of this Ranji season, no other batsman could thwart Tripura's unfettered rampage.

Sanjay Majumdar and Rana Dutta chalked up three wickets each as HP were rolled over for a paltry 189 in 60 overs to hand Tripura only their seventh outright victory in the history of Ranji Trophy since they started participating in the tournament from 1985. Tripura now have 8 points from 4 matches.

In Visakhapatnam, Andhra notched up three points against Goa on the basis of first innings lead. On the last day, Andhra declared their 2nd innings at 193 for 6 and set an improbab;e target of 260 in 26 overs for the visitors. Goa openers, Sagun Kamat and Swapnil Asnodkar, grind out the overs with utmost discretion, making only 14 runs.

Andhra are at the top of the Group C points table with 17 points in 5 matches.